COLUMBIA, MO—Contorting his face into a pained expression and covering the word in exaggerated air quotes, pastor Evan Duncan of Journey of Grace Church uttered the word “theology” Sunday morning as though it were some sort of bizarre obscenity, sources reported Monday.

The event reportedly occurred as Duncan was explaining how “At Journey of Grace, we like to keep things simple,” during his sermon series titled “Knowing God.”

“I’m not a fan of churches that like to complicate things. I don’t know why pastors spend so much time worrying about things like . . . ‘theology,'” the preacher told his flock, the word immediately inducing Duncan to quietly clear his throat while shaking his head, as if he has a terrible taste in his mouth after uttering such a dirty, strange word. “Ugh. Sorry for saying that.”

“Here at our church, we’re going to keep focusing on loving God and loving people—that’s it,” he assured congregants. “We’ll leave all the little details to the . . . ‘theologians,'” he declared, immediately pausing to frown and take a long drink from his water bottle.

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